


Pride and Curiosity

by clavonrie, dorosethea



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: But the Devs were Cowards so We Made Our Own Food, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Slow Burn, These Two Deserve a Support Chain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23999401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clavonrie/pseuds/clavonrie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorosethea/pseuds/dorosethea
Summary: In which Dorothea and Claude finally find the chance to get to know each other.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 16
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to clavonrie for helping me write this. The Claudorothea dynamic wouldn't be complete without you, and I, quite literally, would have had no idea how to start this. Thanks as well to Mugiwara N0 Luffy for being such a wonderful, constructive beta, and firebrands for nudging me in the right direction!

It was a warm day out. The kind of day better spent outside, basking in breathtaking sunlight. Or, alternately, enjoying a rare moment of quiet in what was an otherwise noisy, bustling campus. What Dorothea had found out early in her nearly two months since school began was that _privacy_ was a _luxury_. If there were a chance for her to snatch up that rare moment of peace, it would be when everyone crowded around outside—a moment that wouldn’t necessitate her sweet, smooth facade, or her coy and playful smile. 

Dorothea glanced about the library in search of a place to sit. At first, it seemed like it was empty. The light from the hall window behind her scoured her shadow across the wooden floor. It took her eyes a moment to adjust, to drink in the soft creaks from the steps she’d take, the books, the massive globe at the center. Then a familiar sight of a bright yellow regalia alongside a glint of gold caught her eye: a boy seated alone at one of the tables, nearly lost beneath the several books stacked before him. It was none other than Claude von Riegan, his family’s sole heir and first in line to be the Leicester Alliance’s next Duke Riegan. 

Not to mention her new house leader.

There wasn’t much else she knew about him, apart from the fact he frequently disappeared after class to go about his own business. For someone who had a tendency for disrupting class with his extensive lines of questioning and wisecracks, he certainly kept to himself often Perhaps this would finally be her chance to get to know him, lips curling as she approached his table.

“My, my, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Startled, he turned to face her, pulling his nose from where it had been buried in his book. He blinked his eyes like he hadn’t seen anything aside from words printed on paper in hours. Though, what little surprise he showed quickly withdrew, replaced by a pleased look.

“What can I say?” he began, grinning as he lowered his book to the table, cheek propped on his free hand, “I’m full of surprises.” He took what she had to assume was a moment to collect himself, taking her in, observing her, before he continued, “What brings you to this side of the monastery, Dorothea?”

“Oh, nothing important, really,” Dorothea hummed as she plucked Claude’s book from in front of him. “Honestly, I was just taking a short tour through the areas I’ve been meaning spend more time in. There’s so much of this school that I’ve yet to discover—like your interest in _Herbs of Dagda: The Composition of Medical and Magical Concoctions_.”

“You never know. Teach might just drop a pop quiz that’ll catch us all by surprise.” Claude shrugged. He reclined in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, a smirk on his lips.

Of course, it was an obvious ruse to Dorothea. She was a master of deflection, after all. She dropped the book back onto the table as she leaned towards him, the teasing look on her face mimicking his own. “Do you really expect me to believe that? You could have just said you found it interesting.”

Claude couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, but the chances of you following up with a ‘ _why would you be interested in that_ ’ were way too high for my tastes.”

Dorothea smothered a laugh, his impression of her voice absolutely comedic with how awful it was. “Alright then,” she rested a hand on the table to support her. She tapped her nails on the wood, grin growing wider as she decided to play along. “Why would you be interested in that?” she mimicked. 

“Honestly, I’m far more interested in _you_ , Dorothea,” Claude answered instead, voice lilting with a warmth she hadn’t expected. 

Her brows rose in surprise, why, Goodness, she was taken aback! That was a bit more forward than she had expected from him. But nonetheless, she was experienced in dealing with far more arrogant attempts at flirting with her. 

“Y’know it’s weird that, despite being with the Golden Deer for almost a week now, we haven’t had an opportunity to get to know each other,” Claude finished with a wave of his hand.

It took Dorothea a little longer than she would’ve liked to gather her thoughts but, when she did, a small smile managed to tug at her lips. “That was my exact same thought!” Her next exhale was bemused, caught off guard. She hadn’t expected the conversation to flow quite like this. She’d thought he’d be more evasive, roundabout in his answers. She much preferred this particular directness. “But I just never seem to be able to catch you outside of the classroom.”

Sitting herself on the table, Dorothea made herself comfortable. Her skirt slid up her thigh as she crossed her legs and, for a brief second, she caught Claude’s eyes darting down before he lifted his eyes back to her face just as quickly. Feigning ignorance, she tilted her head towards him and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Hardly proper etiquette for a library on her part, but who was there to reprimand her? It was just the two of them in the room, after all. She met his gaze, smiling down at him, warm and open.

“What would you like to know about me?”

Claude suddenly became very thoughtful, not answering immediately. “Let’s start with what I already know about you,” he mused.

“Well, you already know that I was a diva for the Mittlefrank Opera Company. That’s how I introduced myself to the class.”

Claude chewed on the inside of his cheek, studying her face. “Huh, come to think of it… Why would an admired, successful diva such as yourself choose to enroll at the Officers Academy? Don’t you think that’s a bit of a jump?”

Dorothea exhaled a small laugh, her brows drawing up as she closed her eyes in thought. Admittedly, it was a question she found herself asking quite frequently as well. What _was_ she doing at the monastery? She wasn’t an heiress to any rich, noble lands. She had no intentions of becoming a knight. Compared to everyone else, she had little to no knowledge of Fódlan’s politics or history, and even less when it came to battle skill.

“Stability,” she answered him curtly, and although she gave him her utmost honesty, she felt that crippling pang of humiliation clutch at her chest. It felt belittling to confess the reason for why she actually enrolled at the monastery. It was an acknowledgement that she came from nothing, and that this was what she believed to be her best and only option to secure a good future for her.

“When I was a songstress, there was someone I very much looked up to. I still do, today,” she started, her expression softening as she returned her gaze to him. Claude’s eyebrows lifted in response. “You’re familiar with Professor Manuela. When she left the opera to teach at the Academy, it got me thinking about my own life and what I wanted my future to look like. I asked myself: when my fame and beauty eventually fade away—what then? I was orphaned as a child with no family to turn to, no money to maintain a comfortable life for myself when I grow old.

“Which is why I studied hard, passed the entrance exam to enroll here so I could find a suitable partner to live the rest of my days with.” While it was mortifying to admit her motives, she knew that the only way to keep her pride was to take control of her own story. As long as she could pretend like it didn’t matter to her, no one else could use her shame against her. Her lips pressed together tight, and Dorothea feigned a smile she hoped Claude wouldn’t catch as an act. 

But even if he did, he showed no signs of acknowledging it. Instead, he exhaled deeply. 

“Gotta admit, that’s pretty impressive.” With the hand on his cheek, he fiddled with his earring. She did take some pride upon hearing that. Passing the Academy’s entrance exam was no walk in the park, especially for commoners. She had to juggle that alongside her work as a songstress, and she would be lying if she said it came easy. 

“But if money was an issue, what’d ya do to get in?” He raised an eyebrow. The corner of his mouth quirked playfully. He leaned, propping his chin on his hand, peering into her eyes to gauge the truth.

“Did you schmooze up to some filthy rich noble and have him pay for your entire stay?”

Dorothea’s blood ran frigid cold, and Claude’s teasing grin fell as quickly as her jaw dropped. Then in one quick beat, her brows snapped together, anger flaring in her hard stare. She watched the color drain from Claude’s cheeks, but it was too late for regret in Dorothea’s eyes. She hoped she startled him when she stood so quickly to her feet, relishing the look of fear that crossed his face as she pointed an accusing finger towards him.

“You’re a real big jerk, Claude,” Dorothea snapped, words laced with spite. She couldn’t fathom the nerve of—! She spun by the heel, leaving him there stunned with embarrassment. “Don’t even bother speaking to me again!” she called behind her as she stormed out of the library.

She didn’t get to see Claude run a hand through his hair as he sunk into his seat. “Fuck,” he groaned, “definitely said something wrong.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to "Alpha Claude", clavonrie for helping me write this, and to Mugiwara N0 Luffy for beta-ing!

A few days had passed since Claude’s encounter with Dorothea in the library. To his frustration, they’d yet to have a chance to speak since then. Was this her fabled silent treatment? He heard stories about how she addressed a few others, like Ferdinand, but he wasn’t sure it was quite like this. With Ferdinand, Dorothea still showed a kind of curt politeness, while she treated _him_ with this… pure, cryptic silence. She wouldn’t even acknowledge him in class. In the past, she’d at least sneak him an amused look whenever he’d crack a comment or a joke. Sometimes, she’d even shoot him a knowing glance when she expected him to counter a professor’s argument. But _this_ silence? This palpable avoidance? Goddess, it was brutal. He’d ruffled feathers before, but others’ reactions didn’t leave him feeling quite as guilty as this.

“Ugh, I can’t take this anymore!” Hilda’s sudden cry snapped Claude out of his thoughts, and his gaze pulled away from the pile of grass he was tending to. He and Hilda were on weeding duty that day, and his lack of lively conversation must have ticked her off. “You’ve been weirdly quiet lately, so I thought I smelled something fishy. Then I noticed that Dorothea’s been ignoring you for the past few days, so _clearly_ something’s wrong!”

Claude blinked in surprise. He wasn’t sure what to say. Had he really been that obvious? “Heh, c’mon, Hilda. Nothing’s wrong—!”

“Oh, cut the crap, Claude,” she huffed, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him accusingly. “Do you know how tiring it is to navigate around delicate situations like this one? Getting stuck between a fight among two friends? It’s way too much effort to have to walk on eggshells with you two, and it’s _really_ bumming me out!”

Come to think of it, Hilda was in an odd situation herself. On the one hand, she was Claude’s go-to girl when he needed help with his House Leader duties. Not to mention her great sense of humor and the surprisingly sharp head on her shoulders. She was a lot smarter than she let on. On the other hand, she and Dorothea had become instant buddies the moment they first met. It simply made sense. They had a lot of common interests and they each coveted the school’s latest gossip. The two never seemed to run out of things to talk about.

With the amount of time she spent with them both, of course Hilda would notice. Claude sighed in defeat, using the back of his hand to wipe the sweat from his brow. No use hiding it then.

“C’mon, Hila. Even if I tried to apologize, Dorothea ices me out completely. At dinner, down the hallways, even in the classroom.” 

Hilda rolled her eyes. “That’s because you aren’t _trying_ , dummy. I see you all the time in class, glancing in her direction looking like a sick puppy.” She raised her arms in exasperation. “Why don’t you just go up to her and apologize? You’ve got to start somewhere!”

Claude wrinkled his nose at Hilda’s suggestion. Approaching Dorothea? Not the piece of cake Hil was making it out to be. It seemed she never had a moment alone to spare. She was, after all, arguably one of the most popular girls on campus. It always seemed like there was some suitor waiting at her beck and call, or an adoring fan vying for her attention. Yet, despite all the people flocking after her, she still maintained that kind, sometimes teasing disposition towards those who managed to sneak a bit of her time.

Everyone was in love with her, and who could blame them? She was as generous as she was gorgeous. But with her popularity came the gossip, and Claude had been looking to determine fact from fiction. But he hadn’t meant to gain that insight at the cost of her comfort, and her pride. He hadn’t meant to disregard her feelings the way he had. 

Hilda was right. He had to start somewhere.

“You know, I don’t know how you sleep at night with her being mad at you for so long,” Hilda mused, clasping her hands behind her back as she kicked at her pile of leaves. “She’s one of the nicest girls I’ve ever met, so whatever you did to make her angry must’ve been _pretty_ bad for her to react this way.”

Claude rubbed the back of his neck shamefully, a rueful smile on his lips. “Yeah, I messed up pretty bad, I think. May have said some things I shouldn’t have.”

Hilda’s brows drew together, her eyes narrowing skeptically at him. It didn’t take Claude very long to discover that Hil was extremely protective of her friends, and while he wouldn’t question that she’d have his back when he needed her, he knew she would defend Dorothea no matter the cost. He could feel her eyes boring into him, obviously attempting to gauge his sincerity. Truth be told, Claude really was sorry about what he did—he simply had no idea how to go about fixing this.

Then her expression softened. Hilda drew out a sigh as she turned back to the flower patch she was tending to. “Well, if you really do feel that way, you’d better start apologizing the moment you get the chance.” Claude hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. He let out a deep exhale of his own. She thankfully left it at that, and the rest of their assignment progressed in awkward silence. Guilt left a really awful taste in his mouth.

* * *

After a night of mulling over his battle plan, Claude decided that the best time to pull Dorothea aside was right after class. The moment Teach called the session to an end, he was up off his seat and making his way towards hers. She must have noticed him approaching, because in one sharp movement, she pushed herself to her feet, her chair screeching against the floor and began her escape towards the door.

“Thea!” Claude jogged up behind her, hoping to catch her before she could fully exit the classroom. “Dorothea, wait!”

He could sense the hesitation in her step, until she came to a halt to wait for the rest of their classmates to file out of the room. When it was finally just the two of them alone, she whirled around, arms folded over her chest with an impatient look on her face. She let out an exasperated breath. “What do you want, Claude?”

“Listen, I just want to talk—”

“What’s there to talk about? If you know me so well, that _big brain_ in your _thick skull_ should have figured out how much I would rather not speak to you at all!”

“I—!” Claude rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. Gods, she wasn’t making this easy. “ _Listen._ You don’t have to speak to me ever again if you don’t want to, but _please_ allow me to apologize for what I said to you the other day.”

His brows drew up, eyes pleading. Dorothea’s stare bore into him intently as if trying to get a read on him. Claude could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He could only hope that he appeared sincere enough for her to give him a chance, because for once, he genuinely meant to reach out to her. The guilt had been eating him up from the inside, and he needed to make things right not just to appease his own feelings, but because she deserved that.

After what seemed like an eternity, her brows furrowed in defeat. Ah. How was he supposed to go about this again?

She bit her lip, watching him expectantly. “Well? I’m here.”

Of all the things Claude was afraid of, nothing scared him more than feeling cornered, like he had no choices to make, and no moves left. Even his back-up plans had back up plans— it’s how he’d survived as long as he had, how he managed to move forward confidently. And while he’d thought of every possible way he might apologize to her, just… just standing there, looking into her eyes, made every preconception he’d had fly right out the window. Fuck, he’d already messed up so much, he didn’t want to make it any worse than he already had.

But he must have been taking a damn long time thinking things through because Dorothea’s scowl sunk deeper, and Gods, he saw the way her jaw clenched. Rubbing the back of his neck, he took in a deep breath. 

“It’s very unlike you to struggle so much with words,” Dorothea sighed. Claude blinked in surprise. She sounded concerned. If anything, he’d expected her to be even angrier with him yet, here she was, helping him loosen up. She really was something else.

“Ah, I just— I didn’t want to make an ass of myself. At least, any more of an ass than I’ve already been,” he chuckled nervously. “I’m trying to be serious here. After all, I owe you an apology.”

A small smile quirked at the sides of her lips. “For what it’s worth, I can tell you’re really trying.” Her expression softened, and Claude found himself relaxing in her presence. “Should I count that as your sincerity?”

He offered her a soft, rueful glance. “Hah, yeah… I just— I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I said about you the other day, it was out of line. I have a bad habit of prying too deeply and always feeling guilty for the cuts I leave afterwards.” A bad habit he’d developed growing up, needing leverage, wanting a leg up to survive. But it wasn’t an excuse. His heart was racing. “I shouldn’t have thrown unwarranted accusations at you just because I’d heard a bit of gossip here and again. That was wrong of me, and you didn’t deserve it.”

Her expression looked pained, and it worried him. While what he said didn’t match the script he’d prepared in his head, he still tried his best to stick to the heart of what he meant to say. Resigned, he threw how she’d take it up to fate. Then her words stopped his train of thought.

“You were right.”

Claude blinked down at her in confusion. “Huh?” he responded dumbly, taken aback. “Right about what?”

“You were right about what you said,” she admitted, her arms unfolding so her hands could clasp together tight against her chest. “I did curry favor with a rich noble to pay my way into the Academy. And I can’t say that I’m proud of what I did either. It feels like I cheated my way into being here, especially when everyone else worked so hard—!”

She cut herself off abruptly. Claude frowned and tilted his head.

“Anyway, I’m thankful for your apology. Really, I could tell that you really meant it and I appreciate that. I just want you to understand that I know what I’ve done, and I’d rather it be my story to tell than have people gossip about me behind my back.”

There was another long moment of silence. Claude drank her in, really took a moment to observe her: the way she shrunk inwards as she talked about herself, her nervous glance away, the discomfort in her posture. And, for the life of him, he just… He didn’t get it. 

“Cheated?” he repeated, brows furrowing, rolling her words over in his mind. “I— Gods, and please let me know if I say something stupid. I don’t really understand what you mean by _cheated_. It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong. I mean it’s ridiculously, insanely expensive to enroll here and, the school tries to pretend it doesn’t see class but ignores how limiting its demographic is exclusively because of the sheer cost to even get _into_ the school, alongside—ah.” 

Abruptly, Claude lifted his hands, waving the rest of his thoughts away. “Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to preach at you. All I meant to say is, I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong, but that aside I’m not the type to spread needless rumors. I hold my secrets pretty close to my chest, after all.”

It took Dorothea a moment to process all he said before she turned away, a faint hint of red rising to her cheeks. Her hands snaked their way up her arms defensively as if she meant to hold herself together. “You don’t have to pretend like you approve of what I did for the sake of your apology. I was being selfish—!”

“You were being _smart_!” Claude could feel his blood rise. His hands squeezed into fists as he took a step towards her. “For once, I’m being completely honest, Dorothea. I’m not pretending, and I’m not trying to flatter you. The world we live in?” His jaw clenched in frustration. “It wasn’t built fairly. It’s a world that allows those in power to exploit those based on status or money. It’s a system designed to kill you if you weren’t born with the right blood, the luck of the draw, with one particular color of eyes or a funny little crest. And you?” Claude reached out to take her by the shoulders but he held himself back, fingers tensing as they barely brushed the outline of her jacket. His breath caught in his chest, and his hands curled into tight fists. He hadn’t realized how his voice had risen, meeting her wide eyed gaze in panic as he pulled back. Damn, he was overstepping again.

“Dorothea,” he sighed, mellowing his tone down for the sake of her comfort. “You played the system. What good is nobility if you can’t use your wealth to do something for someone else?”

She was speechless. Her mouth had fallen open somewhere along his little rant and Claude felt his cheeks grow warm. She probably didn’t want to hear him ramble on about how he felt about society and the system. But she stared up at him with gleaming eyes and it was weird how everything seemed to suddenly slow down around them. _Huh, emerald, maybe a shade or two lighter than mine,_ he thought as he held her gaze, her eyes boring into his, like she was searching for something in turn. His chest grew tight, suffocated suddenly by the lump that formed in his throat. It was so palpable that it was almost painful, a feeling he couldn’t quite put into words. Her lips parted when she spoke and suddenly his throat grew desert dry. 

“I— I didn’t know you cared so much about…” she whispered. Claude swallowed thick, hyper aware of how strikingly close they were in that moment. Not just in the physical sense either. This was maybe the most intimate he’d been with someone else, and by the Goddess, he just wasn’t sure how to respond.

Dorothea cracked a smile, covering her mouth as if she were to suppress a laugh. She really had a knack for making him blush, didn’t she? “Now I feel the need to apologize for being so presumptuous,” she chuckled. “All this time I assumed you cared for little else but yourself.”

Claude exhaled a laugh, willing his body to relax, to settle into a more casual disposition. “Well, better I make people look me in the eyes than have them see the cards in my hand, right?” He shot her a wink, and he hoped it was enough to mask how flustered he was by her statement.

“Then consider me lucky enough to have snuck a peek.” She beamed at him. A wave of relief washed over him as he heard the song in her voice return to its familiar teasing. “The revolutionary side of you is quite charming actually. Passionate, full of spark— I prefer this side of you, Claude. He’s considerably less of a jerk.” 

Who was he to argue? “I’ll keep that in mind, princess.” He ran his fingers through his hair, unable to quell the grin that grew across his face.

“And, Claude?”

“Hmm?” he hummed, tilting his head quizzically.

“Thank you,” Dorothea smiled. This time, it was she who reached out to him. The moment her hands wrapped around his arm in a reassuring squeeze, it felt like electricity had just shot straight through him. He reigned himself in, placing his hand over hers to return the gesture.

“You’ve already thanked me for the apology, you know,” he smirked.

“I meant for your honesty,” she scoffed, though the look she gave him remained sincere. “You’re always so guarded. It was nice to get to know a bit of the real you.”

Huh, it was nice wasn’t it? Made him feel all tingly and warm inside. He cleared his throat somewhat flustered, sliding her arm to loop with his. “Well, I don’t know about you but I’m feeling a little hungry,” he grinned.

“Oh, I’m starving!” she whined dramatically, playfully patting his sleeve. She pouted up at him and Claude couldn’t help but notice that while they did have that flirtatious dynamic between them before their fight, this felt entirely different— welcome, even.

“Then allow me to escort you to the dining hall, princess,” he announced, waving his free hand with an exaggerated bow.

There were several things Claude came to learn about Dorothea over the past few days. She was kind, determined, wise beyond her years, and a fighter. But what Claude didn’t expect to learn was how bright everything grew the moment he made her laugh. It didn’t sound like the laugh she pulled on to entertain and pacify her suitors, and while he was sure that she was as honest with them as she was with him, this one felt… It sounded like she was weaving her heart into it, almost like a song.

He kept that soft smile to himself. She sounded absolutely mesmerizing.


End file.
